Usenet is an online forum where people post and read articles from various categories, usually known as the newsrooms. Understanding the workings of Usenet will help you to maximize all the available features to grow your business.

What is Usenet Retention?

Usenet Retention is the amount of time the files will be kept saved on the servers of the Usenet provider. Let’s say if you post a file to the servers of XS Usenet, your published data will be available on their network for 1100 days from the original date of posting. After which it will be deleted to make space for the newly posted information.

Importance of Usenet Retention

Always consider the Usenet Retention time while choosing a Usenet provider as it can provide you the information about how long a file present in the Newsgroups i.e. retention is the amount of time a Usenet service provider keeps the files saved on their servers.  If the retention time is quite long, the files can be used for more extended periods.

Completion

Completion refers to the number of files a Usenet server will have in comparison with the amount of data present. A good Usenet provider will have 99% Usenet completion throughout their Newsgroups.

Explanation of Usenet terms

Newsgroup

A Newsgroup is an online discussion board provided by Usenet. It contains information about a specific topic. There are newsgroups about a wide range of topics. You need a Usenet subscription to access the newsgroup. Also, a newsreader program is essential to browse, post, or reply to the issues.

Nine hierarchies of newsgroups

Newsgroups are generally categorized into hierarchies to find the related groups easily. The prefix before the first dot defines the hierarchy. Newsgroup messages resemble email lists, but they are not sent to individual users; instead, they are posted publicly.

There are nine top-level hierarchies: the Big 8 and the alt.

Big 8 Hierarchies

comp.*: Information related to computers such as hardware and programming language

humanities.*: Literature, philosophy, music, classical studies, and art.

misc.*: Topics that don’t fall into the other eight hierarchies.

news.*: Deals with information about protocols, administration of Usenet software and policies

rec.*: Contains topics about hobbies and recreation

sci.*: Discussions about science and technology

soc.*: Religion, culture, history, politics, lifestyle, and discussions about social interest

talk.*: Heated debates and discussions.

Alternate hierarchies

alt.*: It contains the most diverse range of topics, and is by far the most substantial hierarchy. Any person can create an alt at any time, so most news servers do not carry an alt, or they subscribe to only a small portion of its groups.

biz.*: It contains a wide range of business topics.

clari.*: the clari groups require a license fee and form the Usenet newspaper of sorts. Here the groups are moderated.

k12.*: It contains groups for K12 educators.

microsoft.*: Here, the groups deal with technology and products.

vmsnet.*: Issues related to VMS are discussed in these groups.

What is PAR?

It is an abbreviation for the word – Parity ARchive. There are two types of files PAR and PAR2. They are used to repair and replace missing or damaged files present in Usenet. The Usenet files are passed from one Usenet server to another Usenet server with different storage capacities. As a result, some parts of the messages will go missing. PAR and PAR2 files help to find the missing messages.

What is RAR?

RAR files relate to file downloads. It’s a file that’s been reduced from its original size by data compression. It contains either single or several compressed files. A RAR file helps to break large binary files and forms an efficient format for Usenet.

XS Usenet features

XS Usenet started providing services in 2009. It was the first one to provide free Usenet. Since its humble beginnings, it has grown into a massive community of hundreds and thousands of people. XS Usenet offers various packages.

XS Usenet has servers located on important locations worldwide so you can get fast connectivity. The setup is quite simple. You don’t need to stress over account validity or complex order processing; easy access is their specialty.

They provide a variety of payment plans, including SOFORT banking, SEPA/ideal, credit card, Paysafecard, and cryptocurrencies. With a premium package, they offer 50 connections as well as hundreds of megabits of bandwidth. There’s no contract and no complicated fees. They have multilingual staff round the clock to answer all your queries. With such amazing features, it’s no wonder that XS Usenet will grow your business to the new heights.